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WAXN-TV
WAXN-TV (channel 64) is an independent television station licensed to Kannapolis, North Carolina, United States, serving the Charlotte area. It is owned by Cox Media Group alongside dual ABC/Telemundo affiliate WSOC-TV (channel 9). The two stations share studios on West 23rd Street north of uptown Charlotte; WAXN-TV's transmitter is located near Reedy Creek Park in the Newell section of the city.
The station first signed on the air on October 15, 1994, as WKAY-TV. It was originally owned by Kannapolis Television Company, a subsidiary of Truth Temple in Kannapolis. It had originally received a construction permit as WDZH, but changed the call letters to WKAY on November 15, 1989. The pastor of Truth Temple, Garland Faw, named the station WKAY after his wife Kay. The station aired a mix of religious programming, older movies, and barter syndicated programs, as well as the locally produced special Magic or Something in 1995. Kannapolis Television entered into a joint sales agreement (JSA) with WSOC-TV owner Cox Enterprises, and formally changed the call letters to WAXN-TV in August 1996.
Under the agreement, channel 9 took over channel 64's operations and re-branded the station as "Action 64". The "Action" branding had also been used at the time on Cox's two other independent stations, WRDQ in Orlando and KICU-TV in San Jose, California, the latter of which is now owned by Fox Television Stations since 2014. Cox invested over $3 million toward relaunching the station and making other improvements. The station moved its operations to WSOC-TV's facilities and underwent a significant technical overhaul, boosting its transmitting power to a level comparable with other Charlotte area stations. Previously, it could only be seen on cable television in most of the market, as its over-the-air analog signal barely made it out of Cabarrus County.
WSOC-TV owned the rights to a large amount of syndicated programming, but increased local news commitments left channel 9 without nearly enough time in its broadcast day to air it all. Under the JSA, WSOC-TV bought WAXN's entire broadcast day and placed much of this surplus programming on WAXN, giving channel 64 a much stronger schedule. One of these shows was The Andy Griffith Show, which had aired on channel 9 for many years. From 2001 to 2012, WAXN had also been the Charlotte home of the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon, which had aired on WSOC-TV since 1974; Cox's overall local rights to the telethon ended with the 2012 edition, as the Muscular Dystrophy Association decided to move the telethon from syndication to ABC for the final two years of its existence (by then known as the MDA Show of Strength), effectively returning it to WSOC.
From 1998 to 2000, WAXN aired many programs from Pax TV (later i: Independent Television, now Ion Television), although the station was never formally affiliated with the network. Until WJZY (channel 46) added Ion as a digital subchannel in 2016, Charlotte was the largest market in the United States that never had an owned-and-operated station or affiliate of Pax/i/Ion. WAXN later began airing repeated episodes of Dr. Phil and The Oprah Winfrey Show that were seen earlier in the day on WSOC in prime time.
On August 5, 1999, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reversed its long standing regulations against duopoly ownerships in the same television market. As stipulated in the original joint sales agreement, Cox was now able to acquire the station outright, doing so for the purchase price of $3 million. The sale was officially approved by the FCC in 2000. In 2007, WAXN dropped the "Action" moniker and rebranded as "TV64".
WAXN had been Charlotte's home to Southeastern Conference football and basketball games from Jefferson-Pilot/Raycom Sports from the SEC's addition of the University of South Carolina in 1991 until 2009, and SEC games syndicated through ESPN Plus-oriented SEC TV from 2009 to the end of the 2013–14 basketball season. This ended in 2014 due to those games being moved to the new SEC Network that launched on August 14, 2014, as a result of a new contract between the Southeastern Conference and ESPN to launch that new network.
In February 2019, it was announced that Apollo Global Management would acquire Cox Media Group and Northwest Broadcasting's stations. Although the group planned to operate under the name Terrier Media, it was later announced in June 2019 that Apollo would also acquire Cox's radio and advertising businesses, and retain the Cox Media Group name. The sale was completed on December 17, 2019.
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WAXN-TV
WAXN-TV (channel 64) is an independent television station licensed to Kannapolis, North Carolina, United States, serving the Charlotte area. It is owned by Cox Media Group alongside dual ABC/Telemundo affiliate WSOC-TV (channel 9). The two stations share studios on West 23rd Street north of uptown Charlotte; WAXN-TV's transmitter is located near Reedy Creek Park in the Newell section of the city.
The station first signed on the air on October 15, 1994, as WKAY-TV. It was originally owned by Kannapolis Television Company, a subsidiary of Truth Temple in Kannapolis. It had originally received a construction permit as WDZH, but changed the call letters to WKAY on November 15, 1989. The pastor of Truth Temple, Garland Faw, named the station WKAY after his wife Kay. The station aired a mix of religious programming, older movies, and barter syndicated programs, as well as the locally produced special Magic or Something in 1995. Kannapolis Television entered into a joint sales agreement (JSA) with WSOC-TV owner Cox Enterprises, and formally changed the call letters to WAXN-TV in August 1996.
Under the agreement, channel 9 took over channel 64's operations and re-branded the station as "Action 64". The "Action" branding had also been used at the time on Cox's two other independent stations, WRDQ in Orlando and KICU-TV in San Jose, California, the latter of which is now owned by Fox Television Stations since 2014. Cox invested over $3 million toward relaunching the station and making other improvements. The station moved its operations to WSOC-TV's facilities and underwent a significant technical overhaul, boosting its transmitting power to a level comparable with other Charlotte area stations. Previously, it could only be seen on cable television in most of the market, as its over-the-air analog signal barely made it out of Cabarrus County.
WSOC-TV owned the rights to a large amount of syndicated programming, but increased local news commitments left channel 9 without nearly enough time in its broadcast day to air it all. Under the JSA, WSOC-TV bought WAXN's entire broadcast day and placed much of this surplus programming on WAXN, giving channel 64 a much stronger schedule. One of these shows was The Andy Griffith Show, which had aired on channel 9 for many years. From 2001 to 2012, WAXN had also been the Charlotte home of the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon, which had aired on WSOC-TV since 1974; Cox's overall local rights to the telethon ended with the 2012 edition, as the Muscular Dystrophy Association decided to move the telethon from syndication to ABC for the final two years of its existence (by then known as the MDA Show of Strength), effectively returning it to WSOC.
From 1998 to 2000, WAXN aired many programs from Pax TV (later i: Independent Television, now Ion Television), although the station was never formally affiliated with the network. Until WJZY (channel 46) added Ion as a digital subchannel in 2016, Charlotte was the largest market in the United States that never had an owned-and-operated station or affiliate of Pax/i/Ion. WAXN later began airing repeated episodes of Dr. Phil and The Oprah Winfrey Show that were seen earlier in the day on WSOC in prime time.
On August 5, 1999, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reversed its long standing regulations against duopoly ownerships in the same television market. As stipulated in the original joint sales agreement, Cox was now able to acquire the station outright, doing so for the purchase price of $3 million. The sale was officially approved by the FCC in 2000. In 2007, WAXN dropped the "Action" moniker and rebranded as "TV64".
WAXN had been Charlotte's home to Southeastern Conference football and basketball games from Jefferson-Pilot/Raycom Sports from the SEC's addition of the University of South Carolina in 1991 until 2009, and SEC games syndicated through ESPN Plus-oriented SEC TV from 2009 to the end of the 2013–14 basketball season. This ended in 2014 due to those games being moved to the new SEC Network that launched on August 14, 2014, as a result of a new contract between the Southeastern Conference and ESPN to launch that new network.
In February 2019, it was announced that Apollo Global Management would acquire Cox Media Group and Northwest Broadcasting's stations. Although the group planned to operate under the name Terrier Media, it was later announced in June 2019 that Apollo would also acquire Cox's radio and advertising businesses, and retain the Cox Media Group name. The sale was completed on December 17, 2019.